McKiernan replaced

[Ken White]

What does DA mean to you guys in the Afghanistan context?

I get the piece about targeting HVIs, but beyond that, how pervasive could DA possibly be?

what little I do know from all I've heard and read, most of the DA there is HVI. The issues that I think arise are some small ones and these three biggies:

How sure are we that X is in fact (a) HVI; (b) actually located at the strike point?

Allied to that is how many bystanders are likley to get zapped -- and is that cost worth the price of that HVI?

Do we have people doing HVI strikes that could be more profitably employed in other things or other places?

I think all those are important because I know that pressure to identify HVTs, any HVTs; to DO something; to not scrub a laid on mission, to discount the 'collateral damage' problem and a few other not really war fighting considerations can intrude and skew what happens...

I know that most people most of the time don't fall prey to those traps and are busting their tails to do good and do it right -- and are doing just that.

I also know that some folks will fall into those traps if we aren't careful.

We have a bad tendency, as Armed Forces, to put constraints on processes (four hours to get approval for aircraft as a rule...) and not on the effects of what we do.

[Pragmatic Thinker]

what little I do know from all I've heard and read, most of the DA there is HVI. The issues that I think arise are some small ones and these three biggies:

How sure are we that X is in fact (a) HVI; (b) actually located at the strike point?

Allied to that is how many bystanders are likley to get zapped -- and is that cost worth the price of that HVI?

Do we have people doing HVI strikes that could be more profitably employed in other things or other places?

I think all those are important because I know that pressure to identify HVTs, any HVTs; to DO something; to not scrub a laid on mission, to discount the 'collateral damage' problem and a few other not really war fighting considerations can intrude and skew what happens...

I know that most people most of the time don't fall prey to those traps and are busting their tails to do good and do it right -- and are doing just that.

I also know that some folks will fall into those traps if we aren't careful.

We have a bad tendency, as Armed Forces, to put constraints on processes (four hours to get approval for aircraft as a rule...) and not on the effects of what we do.

1) Verfiying the target is important and that is done through various collection means, it is non-negotiable and usually redundancy is required for any kinetic operations
2) Using ISR to establish a 'pattern of life' which will form the basis of the collateral damage assessment is also SOP for kinetic strikes
3) The target is 'vetted' and already identified within the targeting process thus has intelligence to back it up making it a "true" HVI

The kinetic option works but we are behind the proverbial eight ball with our IO strategy. Al Jazeera is on the scene by sun-up filming the "carnage" from yet another infidel attack. Right behind them is Hamid Karazai who will invariably do what he does best -- blame Americans for so-called civilian casualities while relying on us to keep him tucked in safe inside the Presidential Palace in Kabul. Somewhere around Day Two of the post-strike the American forces are finally getting something out the wider global audience. AQ and TB are all too aware of perceptions and how to use the global media as a weapon against us... Again, we are usually on the defensive and that makes us look guilty when in fact we are not... It isn't enough to say AQ/TB uses women and children as shields but we need to show it and say it FIRST... My hope is LTG McChrystal will bring this to bear with his management style of "flattening" and "decentralized control". We need to allow our press on the scene without waiting 48 hrs. to get a CONOP approved by USFOR-A in Kabul for a Marine Battalion to escort a CNN crew to the bomb site. This type of warfare management has to end...

PT SENDS